While Apple includes a free 3.5mm-to-Lightning adapter with every iPhone 7, there’s been an onrush of alternative solutions that hope to replace Apple’s dongle with different designs and restore the ever important option to charge your iPhone and listen to music at the same time.

The Auxillite is another crowdfunded adapter that hopes to make up for Apple’s 3.5mm omission by adding a Lightning port and headphone jack to the iPhone 7. It takes a different approach to most of the other solutions we’ve seen so far, by positioning the headphone and second Lightning port perpendicularly to the iPhone's charging port, allowing for a much slimmer profile on the bottom of the phone. And while there have been other dual-port iPhone 7 adapters, the Auxillite's simple aluminum design and small size makes it look like something I'd actually be okay with having on my phone (that I also wouldn't be afraid of suddenly snapping off).

There are two versions of the Auxillite: the standard model and the Auxillite S, that includes a foldable kickstand for propping up your phone. The Auxillite also serves as a DAC (playing back 16-bit audio with a 44.1kHz/48kHz sampling frequency and 24-bit audio with a 96kHz sampling frequency) and is also available in a Micro USB version.

I assume any Android devices using the Auxillite would mostly be to benefit from the allegedly higher quality DAC, since I’m not currently aware of any major Micro USB phones that don't have a 3.5mm headphone jack. A USB-C version might have made more sense, given that there actually are USB-C phones without headphone jacks, but I guess that may have to wait for a later Auxillite model. Additionally, due to apparent "safety issues / design limitation[s]," the Micro USB Auxillite isn't able to simultaneously play music and charge a phone at the same time.

The Auxillite costs $13 for the regular version and $17 for the Auxillite S, and is hoping to ship in January. As always with crowdfunded hardware, it’s important to be aware that the company has never shipped a product before. While Auxillite has applied for Apple’s MFi hardware certification, it has yet to receive approval. That said, if you're going to have to have an extra adapter for your iPhone to charge and listen to music simultaneously, the Auxillite could be the nicest-looking option available.

iPhone 7 and 7 Plus review